Abstract

The interaction of an intense relativistic electron beam with a mirror‐confined plasma was studied. Beam parameters were nominally 600 kV, 300 kA, and 15 kJ. A 12‐cm‐diam cold hydrogen target plasma with ne∼2×1013/cm3 was preformed in a 2:1 mirror system with a mirror spacing of 50 cm and peak mirror field of 0.8 T. Background fill pressures from 1 to 50 mTorr were used. Beam transport through the plasma was good and net current levels were low. Energy deposition levels were near 2×1017 eV/cm3, consistent with expectations based on previous work. The use of tantalumanodes in order to increase the beam’s transverse velocity was found to quench the strong beam‐plasma interaction.